Sounders win 1-0, move to second in MLS

Sounders FC climbed to the second-best record in Major League Soccer tonight with a 1-0 win over FC Dallas.

The lone goal came in the 16 minutes, when Fredy Montero claimed a lose ball near midfield, touched it forward once, then slipped a pass to Mauro Rosales who knocked a shot past Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.

The Sounders protected that lead the rest of the way before a crowd of 11,635 at Pizza Hut Park.

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Seattle also got a boost in the 56th minute, when Dallas’ Daniel Cruz received his second yellow card of the game, this one for diving. That gave the Sounders a one-man advantage the rest of the way – no small thing considering the temperature stood at 104 degrees at kickoff.

Despite that, the Hoops continued to swarm, ending with 25 shots to Seattle’s six, and putting four on goal to Seattle’s two.

Dallas’ last chances came in the final minute of stoppage time, when Kasey Keller knocked away a cross and then got off the turf in time to make a diving save.

“The weather was a monster,” Keller told television station KONG. “We were a man up, we just didn’t hold the ball well enough. They put us under pressure like you would at the end: of course they’re going to take risks and pump the ball in the box. They made us work for that win. It’s a good win for us. … It puts us into second place, but it was a tough game.”

The result extended one Sounders streak, as they moved to 7-0-2 in games they finish with a man advantage. It also ended one, as they got their first win in six tries in the state of Texas, moving to 1-3-2.

More importantly, Seattle climbed to 12-5-9 and 45 points on the season, sliding past Dallas (12-7-7, 43). Seattle also got good news from some other Western Conference results, as fourth-place Colorado settled for a home draw with Chivas USA and fifth-place Real Salt Lake lost at Houston.

The Sounders will fly directly from Texas to Mexico where they will meet Monterrey in CONCACAF Champions League group play on Tuesday. Their next MLS match is next Saturday, when Columbus visits CenturyLink Field.

The clubs are second and third in MLS are are presently on pace to open the MLS playoffs against each other. Each won a CONCACAF Champions League match earlier this week, and the clubs will meet again in about 10 days in the U.S. Open Cup seminfinals.